Game 14: NW vs GVSU

Brrrr….. that was nipply! It wasn’t nearly as miserable as Duluth, but definitely cold. Thank God there was no wind, because that would have been terrible. As it was it was just cold. Our tailgate set up was awesome. We had enough heaters and powerful enough heaters that it was actually quite warm in the tent. As for the game itself, it wasn’t all that bad – but we were really packed in. I didn’t wear my coat in the first half, but did have tons of layers on. There was a slight breeze on my back which made me put my coat back on at half. My feet on the other hand, did get pretty darn cold just standing there. I didn’t realize how much the little heaters in my shoes were keeping my toes warm until they stopped working. Great Googily Moogily I didn’t realize how much cold my boots let in. Needless to say, I hit up Cabelas on Sunday and invested in a new pair. Should be much better this week! I’ll let you know next week how my toes come out! Hopefully I still have 10!

Last Week’s Recap:

Well, I was wrong again. Not the first time, won’t be the last time. I was scared of the Huskies offense, but they apparently were more scared of the Bearcat defense. From the get go, the Huskies body language said that they did not want to be in Maryville Mo playing football. But regardless of whether or not they wanted to play, the Bearcats definitely showed up and put a whoopin’ on the Huskies.

Offensively, the Bearcats couldn’t do much wrong. There were only three possessions that they didn’t score on. The first drive they stripped the ball from Robert Burton. Two drives later the Husky defense forced a pooch punt from Adams, and All American Kyle Goodburn didn’t see the field until the very last drive for NW. Huge shout out to Trevor Adams for completing over 85% of his passes this game. There weren’t any deep balls this game, but they weren’t needed. Plus I don’t think it would have been a very good idea to try and throw that frozen rock vertically. Huge props to Clint Utter. He got rocked on some of those catches, and continued to play. I am pretty sure that he got a concussion in there somewhere as he didn’t play in the second half. JaJo (Jason Jozaites) continues to impress. If indeed Utter does have a concussion and can’t play next week, JaJo will have to step up and fill the role of the big WR to go up and get balls. I’m thinking AD or Flohr read my report last week talking about Phil Jackson :D Talk about a coming out party! He tied XO and LC’s record for 4 rushing TD’s in a PO game, and was only the second rusher all season to have broken the 100 yard mark. The future looks bright with a backfield consisting of RB3 and Phil “Action” Jackson! The offensive line did an amazing job this week giving TA plenty of time and opening giant holes for the Billy, Bobby, and Phil to run thru. Overall, it was a great day to be a Bearcat!

Defensively – this group continues to impress me. At halftime, SCSU’s numbers were pathetic. If I remember right, it was something like 76 yards of total offense. It wasn’t until the majority of the starters had been pulled that the Huskies had much success at all. Despite being dinged up, the DL did a great job of disrupting Klaphake’s game. Cas Weitl did a good job filling in for Collin Bevins. This was also one of the best performances by the secondary I’ve seen in a while. They were all over their receivers like stink on poop. Klaphake didn’t have any options and the DL finally ate him up. The LB’s did a great job once again - I could go on and on singing this groups praises, but I would just be reiterating what I’ve said for the past 13 weeks! It is a lot of fun seeing what Wright, Bostwick, and Gordon have done on defense!

Next Week's Game:

I am worried. I am worried because I am not worried. I have thought all season that GV was not a very good team. We are talking about a team who eeked out a win over Truman 31-15 in the second week of the season, and GV fans at that time were trying to convince me that Truman was actually a really good team. That was when I knew that GV was not. Then a few weeks later they got curbstomped by 43 points by ODU, then two weeks later they got beat by Ferris. Then two weeks ago they came from behind to beat Pueblo – PUEBLO. And last week they came from behind again to beat West Texas A&M. This all being said, my head knows that they are in the semifinals and can’t be taken lightly – after all they curbstomped SVSU in the first round of the PO’s 40-7. But if you listen to the Grand Valley fans, the team is nothing more than smoke, mirrors, and duct tape from losing so many players to injury.

Offensively, I think that the key is going to be running the ball. If NW can run the ball on GV, its going to be a great day to be a Bearcat. In both of GV’s losses, they have been pretty susceptible to the run. If Billy, Bobby, and now Action can run – watch out. Because once NW is able to establish the run game, then the pass game will be that much more effective. In the last four games GV has given up 306, 156, 297, 397 in the passing game. So you can say that that is probably the weakest part of their defense. If NW can establish the run game, they can then exploit the secondary. TA has been throwing dimes lately – if the OL continues to give TA time, I think that he will be able to pick apart the Laker secondary.

Defensively, just continue to eat. I’ve heard a rumor that there is the possibility that Bevins may be able to play in this game. I don’t know if that is true or not – or if he will even be needed. IMO, if he isn’t absolutely needed, I would say let him rest for another week. The Lakers primary RB went down a couple of weeks ago, so from what I’ve seen they don’t really attack the middle very much. During the WT game, they went wide a lot. I think that that really plays into the speed of NW’s linebackers strength. So if the DL can bottle up the middle, and the LB’s can take out the sides, that leaves the secondary. I put NW’s secondary against Parling’s arm any day. From the WT game, it didn’t seem that Parling threaded the needle a whole lot – more like he threw a jump ball and made his receivers go up and get it. I have a feeling that the Dixons are going to have a field day with that type of strategy. As long as they stay focused and don’t get overly physical, the Bearcat secondary will stifle Parling. But if they get physical and the refs throw a lot of flags, that could make the game closer than it should be.

Special Teams: I feel a blocked punt or two coming on. GV punter is not a rugby style punter, so they could very well get to him. GV did fake a punt against WT, so NW is going to have to be prepared for that option as well.

Overall, NW has a field day with the Lakers. NW wins this one 55-21